Principal Solution Architect - Data & AI

Join Versent as a Principal Solution Architect (PSA) in the Data & AI practice and play a leading role in shaping enterprise data and AI transformation for clients. This is primarily a billable consulting role, with the majority of time spent advising customers, defining solution direction, and providing architectural leadership across strategic and delivery engagements, alongside selective contribution to pre-sales, proposals, and go-to-market activities. The PSA operates at the intersection of business strategy, architecture, and delivery. This role is responsible for helping clients make confident technology and transformation decisions across modern data platforms, governance, analytics, and AI-enabled ways of working, with particular depth in Databricks and contemporary lakehouse patterns. What you'll do Lead billable customer engagements spanning architecture strategy, platform direction, governance, and transformation planning. Shape end-to-end solution architectures that connect business goals to practical delivery outcomes across data, analytics, AI, and platform capabilities. Act as a trusted advisor to senior customer stakeholders, guiding technology decisions, operating model considerations, and investment priorities. Facilitate discovery, architecture workshops, and decision-making sessions to define target-state platforms, delivery roadmaps, and implementation approaches. Provide architecture leadership through delivery, ensuring solution intent, quality, scalability, and governance are maintained from initiation through execution Partner with engineering and delivery teams to translate architectural direction into implementable designs, while remaining accountable for overall solution coherence. Develop reusable architecture patterns, reference models, accelerators, and go-to-market assets that strengthen the broader Data & AI practice. Support selected pre-sales activities including opportunity shaping, proposal input, statements of work, proof of value engagements, and executive-level solution storytelling. What you bring Significant experience in architecture and consulting roles, including prior experience as a Solution Architect, Data Architect, or equivalent senior architecture position. Strong contemporary expertise in Databricks, including experience designing client solutions around lakehouse architectures, data engineering, governance, and analytics workloads. Experience advising enterprise clients on modern data platform strategies spanning warehousing, BI, advanced analytics, streaming, and AI-enabled use cases. Ability to work credibly with executives, delivery leaders, and engineering teams, translating business ambition into practical architecture and transformation plans. Strong consulting judgement, commercial awareness, and communication skills, with the ability to shape outcomes in both delivery and pursuit contexts. Experience building repeatable solution patterns, architecture assets, or accelerators that improve delivery quality and speed. Experience with Azure and AWS deployments. A strong learning mindset and current awareness of how Agentic AI is reshaping engineering practices, solution expectations, and enterprise operating models. Skills and capabilities Enterprise and solution architecture across modern cloud data platforms. Strong Databricks capability across lakehouse design, data engineering patterns, platform governance, and architectural best practice. Good working knowledge of Snowflake and adjacent modern data platform patterns. Architecture governance, risk identification, and delivery alignment Executive communication, stakeholder facilitation, and commercial solution shaping. Ability to define architecture patterns and reusable assets that support scalable delivery. Strong understanding of analytics, BI, data platform modernisation, and emerging AI solution patterns. Comfortable operating in ambiguity and learning quickly as client expectations evolve, particularly in relation to Agentic AI and AI-augmented delivery models. Certifications We work closely with key partners. Certifications are a signal of commitment to the partnership and expertise with ever-evolving capabilities. Proven Databricks expertise is essential and should be demonstrated through substantial client delivery experience, relevant certification, or a combination of both. Databricks certification is strongly preferred, particularly Databricks Certified Data Engineer Professional along with ancillary credentials such as Databricks Certified Machine Learning Professional; and Databricks Generative AI Engineer Associate. Snowflake is equally a key partner. Candidates with deep practical Databricks architecture experience will be considered even where certification is not yet complete. Cloud architecture or data platform certifications across Snowflake, Anthropic, Azure and AWS will be viewed favourably Life at Versent We're a diverse team of motivated humans who think outside the box and strive to deliver what others might consider impossible. At Versent we truly care about our people and put real focus on cultivating a culture of learning, collaboration and growth.  We provide our teams with the space, trust, and support, to deliver the best work of their careers. To enable this, we have a culture that places a high value on continual feedback, excellence, and invention anchored in customer success. We also offer our team: Flexibility: We give you the freedom to excel, providing as much autonomy and flexibility around when you work so you can manage your time in a way that best suits you to get the job done. Learning: We are passionate about continuous improvement and care about you investing in and developing your craft. Our Craft 180 Program is a holistic strategy for ongoing, meaningful skill and capability development with an ultimate goal to create an environment where people can learn and contribute in different ways to develop, practice and become masters of their craft. Access to Benefits That Fit Your Life: From salary packaging and purchased leave to novated leasing options, we offer a range of benefits designed to suit different lifestyles and priorities. There's something for everyone. Health & Wellbeing Programmes: We focus on you as a whole person, with wellbeing initiatives that are to support you mentally, physically, emotionally and financially. Connection: Regular social activities across your team and the organisation. Recognition: We offer several reward & recognition programmes to acknowledge the amazing work that you do! Career opportunity: We provide the opportunity to work on diverse projects and initiatives that enable you to create a brilliant career. At Versent, we don't adhere to a one-size-fits-all hiring strategy. We understand that you might not fulfill all the criteria for this position. Our celebration of diverse perspectives isn't just a value, it's a way to gain an edge. If you believe this opportunity is where you can thrive, don't be shy and apply! If you require any accommodations throughout the interview process, please get in touch with us by emailing careers@versent.com.au. Versent is a leading technology consultancy. We exist to architect, build and operate cloud-native applications, data streams, platforms, and services.  We work with customers to transform their business' through technology, in ways they never imagined. Australia's leading businesses and top technology companies choose to partner with us because of our deep expertise, unwavering integrity and dedicated focus on ensuring our customer success.